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Replies to: Tell me about dorms...

Oh wow this is a big question. Fortunately, my only task right now is watching Adult Swim.

The dorms are one of the best aspects of Notre Dame. You don't live there. You live there.

The people in your dorm are your family. They will be your friends, your study partners, and the folks who will guide you home if you find yourself unable to find your way. Dorms are the foundation of intramural sports and competitions. Each dormitory will field teams in a huge number of recreational sports, the most respected of which is football. In addition to sports, there are competitions in other areas too. For example, Welsh Family Hall just hosted Welsh Family Feud, which I did not attend but I know that the dorm that had the most teams won an award. This brings me to my next point. All the dorms have signature events that they host. These can be a lot of fun. Sorin College hosts Secession Week (an entire week of activities celebrating the week Sorin flipped the administration the bird by saying they weren't going to be a part of the university any more), while Keenan has the Keenan Review, a comedy act that is immensely popular. I believe tickets sold out for all three days of the review in twelve minutes this year.

Each dorm has a distinct feel. No two dorms are exactly alike, except for maybe Keenan and Stanford which are functionally the same building. The two biggest factors in dorm character are age and size. The oldest dorm is either St. Edward's Hall or Sorin College, depending on whom you ask. St. Edward's is actually the older building (1882 I believe), but Sorin College is the oldest dorm that has been a dorm continually for the last century (1888). The older the dorm, the more the tradition and history. Sorin is actually a national historical landmark. The dorm has a walking tour you can take and many of the rooms have plaques indicating their historical significance. My room is the Captain's Corner, and according to the plaque, it is the "most legendary student room." Frank Leahy, Tom Clements, Rocky Bleier, and Jim Lynch all lived in my room at some point. Because no two rooms are exactly alike in Sorin, a lot of the rooms, like my own, have a nickname. There is Downtown, the Front of the House, the Palace, Harry's Place, the Otter Room, etc. They have been established and endowed with the spirit of Notre Dame over the decades.

I do not mean to imply that other dorms have no history or character. Zahm Hall was recently renamed Zahm House. Zahm has been the most fraternity-like of the dorms since it was built. One of my high school teachers, who lived in Zahm, told me they used to have drunk bottle rocket fights in the hallways on the weekend. They even had a special balcony for the kegs. While it has calmed down significantly since then, Zahm still has its wild reputation, and the name change reflects this.

Carroll Hall is unique in that it is on Far Quad (if you’ve ever seen Shrek, you ought to know that a character was named after this). Far Quad is just a made-up term to describe the fact that Carroll is on the other side of St. Mary’s Lake. It’s kind of separated from main campus, and their mascot is the Vermin (all the dorms have mascots [Sorin Otters, Keenan Knights, Morrissey Maniacs etc.]). I am not sure but I think Carroll may be the smallest dorm. This does not mean Carroll is the worst dorm to be in. Far from it. Carroll’s isolation has given it something unique. I don’t live in Carroll. I don’t know how to describe it.

Size is another factor in dorm feel. Dorms range in size from Carroll (103 students) to Dillon (334 students). The smaller the dorm, the tighter the bond between residents. Fraternity, brotherhood, defines the smaller dorms. In fact, Sorin’s motto is “Frater pro Fratre,” brother for brother.

Morrissey is a very tight fit. Most of the rooms were built to be singles but are now housing multiple students. Further, the rector likes to keep it a practically dry dorm, which is bad for people who care to drink.

The room issue is being remedied right now by the addition of extra dorms, which are being built as I write this. ND has no intention of adding extra students and is only building these dorms to help alleviate the housing shortage.

If you don’t care about history there are several newer dorms on campus. O’Neill is the newest I believe. These dorms have all the amenities including elevators and air conditioning. Their rooms are far more standardized so that a double is a double is a double. I wouldn’t place too much importance on AC. I’ve only been less-than-satisfied with fan-fed air for one night all year.

The number of people who share a room varies A LOT. In Sorin, the largest rooms have 7 people, while we also have a huge percentage of singles. Really, the size of the room you want to live in is up to you after freshman year. Freshmen in Sorin live in doubles, triples, and quads.

Wow, that was quite a post. All I have to say is that Fisher is the best dorm. Older, yes, but great priests, a strong community, lots of singles, and a fantastic location by South Dining Hall. We just pretend that it stinks so other people aren't jealous...kind of like why they named Iceland Iceland.

Hmm, well each of the dorms is different, so its hard to say what the dorms are like here, since they vary so much. But I can say that, no matter what dorm you are in, you will be living in a very small room, usually with 1-3 roommates. But you will become unbelievably close with the people in your dorm and eventually grow to love your dorm and think its the best one on campus. A lot of the dorms have rivalries with other dorms as well: Dillon-Alumni, Knott-Siegfried, Stanford-Keenan, Keough-O'Neill, Pasquerilla West-Pasquerilla East, Sorin-Walsh, Zahm-everyone else, etc...

Each room comes equipped with a bed, dresser, desk, and "closet" space for each person. Some of the rooms have modular furniture, some do not. (I prefer non-modular, because you can build your own lofts) Some have real closets, and some have wardrobe units. All rooms have a sink, unless you are in a converted study lounge. Not having a sink would suck, but I hear these rooms are generally a bit larger- and will most likely soon no longer be in use because of the new dorms being built. If you are creative and don't live in Morissey, you should be able to fit a fridge, TV, and maybe a futon in as well.

I'd have to say Walsh is the best female dorm on campus. For guys dorms, I'd have to vote for Dillon, which will make all you Sorin guys mad I'm sure... but you guys deserve it... Anyway, Walsh is also one of the older dorms, built in 1909. It's situated on God Quad, so we have a great view of the golden dome and can hear the bells of the basilica (but we're far enough away that they aren't loud enough to drive us nuts). From the back, we have a nice view of Bond Quad and the lake. The location is also good because its pretty close to wherever you might want to go. Also, I'm pretty sure we have the best basement/24 hr space of all the dorms, with 2 TV lounges, a pool table, 2 silent study rooms, a smaller study room, workout room, and a kitchen. It used to house a bowling alley, but no more... The only problems I have with Walsh is the small rooms (my double is about 10x15), but the rooms for upperclassmen are larger and there are some awesome arrangements (rooms with bay windows, quads/quints with private bathrooms, etc). Also, I do sometimes wish my dorm had AC, not so much for the heat as to help with my allergies, which get really bad in the spring and fall. If you have allergies, you can request to be put in one of the newer dorms, like one of the Pasquerillas. But I think the newer dorms lack the character Walsh has, so I plan on staying right here.

Finally, since we don't have representative's from each of the dorms, here's a general link to all the dorms individual websites: http://orlh.nd.edu/halls/ Each dorm should have a general info page and then a hall-maintained website.

P.S. I could describe a few of the other dorms a little bit more, but I actually know more about the guys' dorms than the girls' (with the obvious exception of Walsh) and PCB has most of the basics covered.

Sorry I'm just remembering all these questions I had- do we clean the halls ourselves or is there some type of service? If there is a service, do they keep things pretty clean? I'm kind of a clean freak.

You won't be cooking very often, I would think, and basically anything that can generate heat isn't officially allowed. That being said, there's a microwave in my friends room, and another kid has a hot pot, which is about all you're gonna need. The dorm kitchens have ovens, stoves, sinks, refrigerators, etc etc, if you feel compelled to cook.

You're gonna want a TV, in my opinion. Yea, the lounges are cool (Alumni's isn't too great, but whaddaya gonna do) but they're also not private. If you want to watch TV with your friends or a movie with somebody, you're probably not gonna want to traipse downstairs to watch them.

All halls have a cleaning service for the hallways themselves, and the bathrooms. However, cleaning your own room is up to you. They do however clean your sinks and mirrors and vacuum your floor over breaks.

As far as how much to bring, you should look at those pictures that PCB posted above. They'll show you how much room you'll have, then you can make a judgement call.

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